Made in Mendoza: A winemaker’s dream

Silvia Corti is the Head Winemaker at Argento, one of Bibendum’s most established Argentinean wine brands. We spoke to her about what inspires her, what she does as a winemaker and just how different each region of Mendoza is.

Why did you want to become a winemaker?

My grandparents introduced me to winemaking as a child growing up in Mendoza. I used to help make our family wine from their vineyards in Agrelo by helping to pick the grapes and filling bottles when the wine was ready. I loved the way it brought our family together, and I knew from an early age that I wanted to be winemaker. Ever since beginning my career as a winemaker more than 15 years ago, I continue to choose to be a winemaker again every day – it’s in my blood and part of my DNA.

Can you describe a typical day?

During harvest, my day starts at sunrise in the vineyard – checking the condition of the vines, the soil, irrigation etc. Typically I drive about 450-500 miles each week to visit all our vineyard areas, checking on the ripeness of the grapes and deciding when to pick them. I spend a lot of time in the car, but the Mendoza scenery is beautiful, so I can’t complain! After that I go to the winery and taste all of the fermentation tanks, making decisions about the fermentation program, skin contact, temperatures etc. I also spend a lot of time in the laboratory deciding on the final blend of each wine, taking components from a wide variety of different terroirs and microclimates around Mendoza. For example, with Malbec we get deep colour and great aromatic intensity from the Uco Valley and we get fruity aromatic concentration and velvety tannins from the Central Region.